5G-MOSAIC: 5G Mission-Critical Sidelink for Autonomous and Interoperable Communications in Lunar Networks

NASA#39;s lunar missions require innovative technologies to support increasing data volumes and performance enhancements of communication systems. 5G technology can provide the required support, but mission-critical and suit-to-suit communication necessitates the use of 5G Sidelink (SL). EpiSci and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute propose 5G-MOSAIC, a 5G Mission-Critical Sidelink for Autonomous and Interoperable Communications in lunar networks. 5G-MOSAIC aims to enable high-reliability and low-latency communication among mission-critical and autonomous applications in the lunar environment. It includes an infrastructure-less mode with multi-hop capabilities, as well as a multi-protocol solution to enhance communication capabilities.nbsp;nbsp;5G-MOSAIC will be developed by implementing and integrating 5G SL features into OAI to produce 5GEM-SL, an OAI-based 5G emulation testbed with full SL features. Next, 5GEM-SL will be customized for lunar environments, missions, and applications. This includes a development of a lunar channel model for 5GEM-SL. The resulting testbed, 5GEM-SL-LN, will be demonstrated for representative lunar missions under various mobility scenarios and traffic loading conditions. The tool will include document with roadmap toward hardware prototype implementation for Phase II. Finally, we will design and demonstrate an AI-based 5G planning and predictive analytics tool called 5G-ANATOMY, capable of automating mission planning including 5G SL parameter configuration and resource optimization for a wide range of lunar missions. This tool utilizes AI to predict the LN performance or mission quality based on scenario configuration parameters including HW/SW parameters. Through 5G-ANATOMY, LN mission designers can quickly determine key system parameters required for a particular lunar task as well as identify necessary edge computing components to achieve desired performance. The resulting 5G-MOSAIC will be available as open source to foster collaboration.